April 2007

This is gonna piss off a lot of people, (we already know who don’t we?):

BERLIN: Germany wants to use its European Union presidency to push through legislation that would make denying the Holocaust punishable by stiff jail sentences in all 27 EU member states.

…”We have always said that it can’t be the case that it should still be acceptable in Europe to say the Holocaust never existed and that six million Jews were never killed,” she said. Under the German proposal, she said, those who deny the Nazi slaughter of Jews during World War II could face up to three years in prison.

Double standards anyone?

I’m talking about this one. The comments were interesting to read. I especially liked this one by Rihab:

We regard things as normal depending on how accustomed we have become to them, for example, in a Muslim country the notion of a man having more than one wife is regarded as normal, whereas in a non-Muslim country it is regarded as abnormal. Straight men holding hands is normal in many Arab countries, in many non-Arab countries it would be odd if they aren’t gay. So “normality” is simply whatever you got used to over time in which case “normal” is a very relative term.

This one by Jina at Mideast Youth was also interesting to read:

Normal is when majority agree on one thing. Being black in white man’s land was abnormal, being white in black man’s land was abnormal. Cowboys dueling with each other was normal at one time, it’s not now. Blacks taking the back of the bus in the States were normal at one time, it’s not today. A noble killing a commoner was treated as nothing but a commoner killing a nobel was a crime.

I read my post again and I now realize how crazy it must have seemed to many readers. I’d say that a lot of what I wrote was emotional. I guess I don’t need to provide reasons for that. I’m sure most of you can tell where I’m coming from. I can pretend to be a wise ass and give you some fake opinion to seem all smart and intellectual but at the end of the day, it won’t benefit me. After one year of blogging, I have noticed that it’s mostly the seemingly “loony” posts such as this one, that trigger the most thought provoking comments. So yes, it’s pretty much worth it, even if it results in the following:

Sudanese Thinker goes on yet another anti-gay rant with the proviso that “he doesn’t mean to offend anyone”. Of course ST is entitled to his own opinion but the whole piece is full of misinformation and plain bigotry. He ends up telling us of an encounter with “2 gay dues and a transsexual” and concludes that you cant judge people on the basis of their sexuality. And he even has some friends who are atheist as well! God what a relief on both counts.

Oh no, the dreaded ‘B’ word. Cool! I’m now officially a bigot! Yaaaay! Oh well, at least Nominally Challenged (who’s gay) is cool with my post me. I’ve exchanged some private emails with him. Thanks man! Whether we agree or not is something, but the fact that we can have a decent, calm and honest cyber conversation is another different thing that I greatly value. More food for thought.

YESSS! Finally! The retard got booted out.

OMG, I swear he was driving me insane and turning the whole show into a complete joke. Thank God he’s now out. I couldn’t stand him at all.

So just after a few days of blogging about these crazy kids, this tragic Virginia Tech crap goes down. It’s disgusting and shocking. It’s as if this is now becoming an American trend. I feel bad for the victims’ families and friends. Moreover I feel bad for the poor psycho killer himself. The guy was clearly deeply disturbed. Iraqis go kaboom and kill each other, while disturbed ones in America go on a shooting rampage and kill fellow students. What a wonderful world. Some peoples’ reactions make the whole event even more wonderful. Leilouta has some good and bad ones nicely listed. Lord have mercy!

I guess Sudan accepting UN troops is old news by now. Don’t get too excited though. I am still skeptical but not as much as I used to be when similar news were announced in the past. I’m only slightly skeptical this time. Maybe this slight skepticism exists in me due to fear… the fear of making an emotional investment only to end up feeling bitter disappointment later on. Even with this slight skepticism, this time I don’t think the Sudanese government (or Omar al-Bashir’s NCP to be more specific) is trying the same old trick of buying more time by saying “yes, no problemo” only to later change their minds and say “whops, sorry but…”

Lately we’ve been witnessing a real push to pressure Sudan and also things that indicate the high possibility of a real push occuring behind the scenes. Firstly, the US of A (whom I thank for playing a vital role in ending the bloody 20 year old Sudanese North-South civil war) indicated that it will seriously consider building up the capacity of the SPLM’s army (aka SPLA) as part of Plan B, something which will present a real threat to the northern NCP. Secondly, the “Genocide Olympics” movement seems to be gaining momentum, something which has the potential to cause a real headache for China. Thirdly, during the recent Arab League Summit, Saudi Arabia announced that it was working on convincing Sudan to accept the UN force in Darfur. It looks like they weren’t lying and that they actually have something to do with the recent Sudanese acceptance/”acceptance”. Fourthly the Sudan divestment campaign is also gaining momentum in America. Moreover new sanctions is something Sudan defintely doesn’t want. Believe me when I say this, the NCP doesn’t want bad relations with America. On the contrary, what they want (and what I myself and many Sudanese want too) is for Sudan to be removed from the terrorism sponsoring states list, lifting of sanctions and normalization of relations. This is just a simple example of what I mean and what peope hoped the North-South peace agreement would achieve. Fifthly, when Negroponte himself and not some small time lousy diplomat goes all the way to Khartoum to discuss Darfur, something is defintely cooking. Sixthly, the new alliances forming in Darfur against the government might be a factor. I’m not so sure about this one as I haven’t really read much about it.

The above mentioned points are just some of the developments I’ve been reading about. The rhetoric in various cases isn’t as vague as before. Now, even if this acceptance is 100% genuine, I strongly believe it’s only an acceptance of phase 2 which would only require allowing 3000 UN troops into Darfur. Accepting phase 3 will be the killer that the NCP would hate as it would mean allowing 20,000 UN troops into Darfur. 3000 troops with consent from Khartoum is a good start.

On another note though, I’ve got to say that Bush has been really patient with Omer al-Bashir all along. Hell, the man even offered to meet al-Bashir personally. What would have Bill Clinton done if he was still president? Bomb more pharmaceutical factories, ops I mean highly crazy super dangerous chemical weapons production facilities? In regards to Sudan, the Elephant response has been better than the Donkey response during Clinton’s time. No? *Stones, tomatoes and eggs flying towards Drima*.

UPDATE: An article by the CMS states points similar to mine:

International pressure from the United Nations, Arab leaders, and the United States played a role in Sudan’s concession this week to allow 3,000 UN peacekeepers into the country’s troubled Darfur region.

So, apparently, did the image concerns of China – both one of Sudan’s biggest commercial partners and an increasingly outgoing international power – as it prepares to host the 2008 Summer Olympics.

…For some observers, Sudan’s decision reflects China’s growing pressure on Khartoum to respond to growing pressures from the international community.

“It shows that one thing is more important to the Chinese than their access to Sudan’s oil, and that’s the success of their Olympic Games,” said actress and Darfur activist Mia Farrow in comments to the Associated Press.

And as usual, Alex De Waal states the obvious.

De Waal says the janjaweed, the pro-government Arab militia terrorizing the Darfur population, will never be disarmed by peacekeepers – that will take an internal Sudanese political solution.

De Waal says the danger of Sudan’s latest agreement is that what he calls the “more-has-to-be-done crowd” will be enthralled by it, instead of looking for more viable solutions.

“It’s not ‘we need to do more,’ ” he says, “but at this point we need to rethink and say ‘maybe we need to do things differently.’ “

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Alex De Waal is one of the few people being quoted in the Western main stream media who actually knows the real facts and understands the situation well enough.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Today I completed one year of blogging. I can’t believe it’s been this long and I don’t even know where to start this post. This whole journey has been so rewarding in many different ways. It has been one hell of an educational experience and I managed to learn so much. Thank you all for being such supportive readers and for always coming back. Without you all, this blog is nothing. Therefore I won’t say happy birthday to myself and I don’t expect you to. Instead I would like to say happy birthday to us. The Sudanese Thinker is both you and me, audience and blogger. Happy birthday to The Sudanese Thinker!

(More later after I get some sleep).

UPDATE: Podcast in preparation. Sorry, please bear with me. Busy days.

This website is so daring and sooooo hilarious. What a wicked way of making an extra buck.

Check out the “interesting” Bush comments. They even have Bin Laden, Ann Coulter and David Beckham rolls

Which one are you interested in buying? I’m not buying any. Four Canadian dollars for freaking toilet tissue paper?! Hell no, that’s too expensive for me. Hehehehe! On a serious note though, imagine the potential amount of money I could make selling Bush toilet paper rolls in Arab countries. Or even better, how about one of “beloved” Sharon or Olmert? One truly wicked idea. Frankly speaking, when I look at this, I get shocked at the amount of freedom of expression available in Western countries like Canada. It’s almost crazy!

This is shocking:

JACKSBORO, Tennessee (AP) — A 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty Tuesday in the killing of a high school official and the wounding of two others under a plea deal announced after jury selection for his trial had started.

…The three school officials had confronted Bartley on November 8, 2005, after hearing that he had a gun in the school. Bartley was in the principal’s office when he fatally shot Assistant Principal Ken Bruce, 48, and wounded Seale and Pierce.

This is shocking too:

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) — Five fifth-grade students face criminal charges after authorities said four of them had sex in front of other students in an unsupervised classroom and kept a classmate posted as a lookout for teachers.

WTFish? That is soooo juvenile!

A few days ago, a huge explosion rocked Khartoum. There were clashing reports on what exactly happened. Now the story is more or less the same except for 2 details, the exact location of where the explosion occured and the cause. Mimz blogged about it:

A little over 24 hours ago a series of extremely boisterous explosions took place in one of the military sites availed for storing ammo, in the Burri area of the capital of Sudan. The explosions occurred in three enormous gunnery-loaded trucks.

So this blast happened a few meters away from the University of Khartoum, students had to evacuate campus and basically run for their lives as they witnessed the thick, heavy black smoke approaching and heard the disturbing loud sounds of explosion.

The remnants of the exploded weapons flew and were scattered all over the place, at unusually large radii from the site of explosion, landing at various destinations.

I actually saw the grey-black thick smoke from my window, and I live in Khartoum North, Bahri, which is a few kilometers away from Burri.

My friend, and neighbor, informed that he was stopped by the police on his way back from work and was directed to change his route, apparently one piece landed half a kilometer away from home.

However, the reason for yesterday’s explosions was diagnosed by the Sudanese government as, get this, “due to the increase in temperature”.

The reason obviously sounds pathetic. My immediate thoughts pointed me towards something else… “sinister” elements employing new strategies:

An investigation is under way.

There was a bomb attack on an oil depot to the south of Khartoum at the beginning of the month, which the authorities blamed on opposition elements.

It looks like I might be right after all. If true, this could signal the beginning of dark times ahead. Moreover, for the first time in ages, the fierce battles won’t be fought far far away in the South, east or the west in Darfur but right in the home turf of the NCP. Khartoum. I pray I’m wrong. I would hate to see Khartoum turn into another Somalia. I never thought that one day I would be saying this, but maybe the intensive training the Sudanese intelligence has been receiving from the Iranians will be put into good use. Let’s hope order and stability can be kept in the capital.

This article made me miss Sudan:

April 8, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — People often ask me how I can tie myself forever to Sudan, when I have covered the worst of this country in conflict zones like Darfur. I guess I finally understood the strength of love.

Reuters correspondent in Sudan Opheera Mcdoom smiles next to her husband Mohamed Omer Abdelati during the “jirtik” ritual at their traditional Sudanese wedding in Khartoum April 4, 2007. (Reuters)

The news I report is often grim. But living here for three years has also given me a unique opportunity to see a side of this fascinating place that few get to understand.

War and oppression have ripped at the fabric of society in much of Sudan but strong family bonds have kept people together. I arrived as a stranger, alone in a place where there were few foreigners, and was welcomed by many into that family.

My new husband, Mohamed Omer Abdelati, is from northern Sudan and runs an aviation services company and the Canadian University of Sudan.

We are both 29 and Muslim, and shared a circle of friends for two years. But I was often on the road and we did not really become close until 2005.

When we did, we came together in this rich mix of ancient Arab and African cultures, where no culture is dominant, despite the indoctrination policies of various governments.

My wedding, for example, was a week-long affair that ended on Saturday. Pharaonic ceremonies passed down over thousands of years were more important than Muslim traditions.

During the “jirtik” ritual, the boss of the home is prophesied by whether the bride or groom first spits milk in the other’s face.

… The bride has to dance for the women in both families.

Shake it like Shakira I thought — great fun — until I discovered it entailed learning some 75 different tribal dances, including Ethiopian shoulder shaking.

In the old days, the bride would dance in a grass skirt and nothing else to show the in-laws how fertile she would be. Now the bride is clothed — but not very.

During the 1990s when a hard-line government enforced its strict version of Islamic sharia law, the racy bridal dance was one tradition they did not dare touch.

Everyone pitches in at a Sudanese wedding. Dozens of family and friends all work to prepare exotic dishes and design elaborate decorations.

Relatives living abroad send packages with vital ingredients, from hair extensions for the bridal dance to candles, huge quantities of gold jewelry and dresses. The bride is expected to do, well nothing really.

For at least a month before the wedding, a Sudanese bride is locked up at home, scrubbed daily with concoctions of turmeric, coffee, crushed almonds, rice and sandalwood. She is then placed aloft over a pit of burning perfumed wood to give the skin a beautiful color and scent.

All her body hair is removed and her hands and feet are painted in intricate designs of henna. When she emerges on the first day of the wedding, her skin is dazzling.

I invited friends and family from around the world to my wedding — 2,000 people attended the white dress night at the Palace hotel on the banks of the Nile in Khartoum — because I wanted them to see this, the other side to Sudan.

 

I miss Sudanese weddings. I wonder how mine will be like. The thought of inviting 2000 people is horrifying but the jirtik should defintely be a lot of fun. For more pictures of traditional Sudanese weddings, you can check out this old post of mine.

Interesting post:

There is no denying that the world today is marked by a high level of violence in select parts of the Muslim world; it is equally true that there have been high levels of violence in Columbia and in multiple parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where Islam is not present. Not to mention North Korea. Humans are perfectly capable of fighting for any number of reasons, and will use whatever creed or ideology is convenient to support them. But the close association of Islam with violence and terror is a triumph for a cabal of loosely connected groups who have managed to define a religion followed by as many as 1.2 billion people in a narrow, limited fashion. In the process, both Muslims and people in the West have forgotten a legacy that extends across fourteen centuries, which have seen conflict, for sure, but have also witnessed high levels of toleration and long periods of live-and-let-live. For centuries after the Arab conquests in the 7th century, for instance, a small Arab Muslim elite ruled over vast numbers of Christians and significant Jewish minorities. Those non-Muslims were largely left autonomous, save for taxes, and while their lot was not necessarily easy, no society in those centuries celebrated human rights or individual freedoms.

And there can be no question that until the 20th century, it was vastly preferable to be a Jew in Muslims society than under Christian rule. The degree to which that changed with the creation of Israel in 1948 and with the sad, tragic expulsion of Jewish communities who had been living Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and Morocco for more than a thousand years, is hard to reconcile with the long legacy that preceeded it, but that is not an excuse for forgetting that the intense animosity between Muslims and Jews is a modern phenomenom and not woven into the fabric of either tradition (for those who then ask, what about the execution of one of the Jewish tribes of Medina by Muhammad or the occasional outbursts in medieval Baghdad, remember that violence against groups who fell out of favor was part of life in all parts of the world, and had more to do with power and who had it than religion and who didn’t).

Continue read it here.

NOTE: Contained here within this post are my personal thoughts and opinions. I honestly don’t mean to offend anybody with what I’m about to say. I don’t have the intention to. This is Drima just being Drima. Enjoy! Your comments are welcome.

Sudanese Culture, Homosexuality & My Personal Opinion

In Sudanese culture, homosexuality is a big gigantic red no and is regarded as a pretty huge crime. It is not tolerated at all. If any man dared to walk down the streets of Khartoum advertising the fact that he’s gay or even slightly feminine, he would most certainly get beaten up. Yeah, I mean like literally beaten up, as in smacked in the face, punched in the nose, kicked in the stomach and thrown with a few bricks. He’ll probably get killed! (Hell, even the simple act of shaving your moustache in Sudan is considered something totally unmanly)!

I don’t regard homosexuality as something normal and I don’t think it should be “normalized”. As offensive as that statement may sound to some people, I don’t intend for it to be so. I really don’t. Vagina + Penis = Baby. That’s how it’s intended to be. The norm is attraction between male and female. Penis and penis aren’t the norm and while the naughty guy in me may fantasize about the idea of vagina and vagina, I also believe that it’s not the norm. The 2 purposes of sex are procreation and enjoyment. Homosexual sex can result in enjoyment but it won’t result in procreation. Maybe that’s why homosexuality is regarded as a major sin in many religions. If today we all turned homosexual, the existence of the human race will eventually come to an end.

Now I understand that some of you have trouble reading the above. It might seem too simplistic to you but it isn’t to me. Sure, homosexuality is something that exists in the animal kingdom but so what? We’re different from animals. We’re different because we were blessed with conscience, the freedom to do right or wrong and the freedom to think freely. I’m sure Darwin and Richard Dawkins would super disagree with me though.

There might be another reason some of you have trouble with my opinion. If I’m saying that homosexuality isn’t the norm, then wouldn’t that imply I think gays are abnormal? The answer is yes. Allow me to elaborate but before I do please keep in mind that I’m not using the word “abnormal” in a derogatory sense (at least not in most cases).

The Causes of Homosexuality: Nature, Nurture or Both?

There doesn’t seem to be a clear answer. Some researchers point towards nurture, some towards nature and others point towards both. Personally I don’t know. I’m not a scientist but I am open to arguments from the nature perspective. My stance is lenient towards people who have an odd sexuality that occured as a result of nature.

You can’t really blame them for being that way can you? I can’t. If they were born that way then it’s not their fault now is it? Some gay men claim that since they were little kids, they’ve always known that they didn’t like girls. Others claim that they’re women stuck inside men’s bodies. How can you explain that? Does it have to do with some kind of hormonal unbalance? I don’t really know and that’s why I remain very open to scientific arguments from the nature perspective. Not so long ago hermaphrodites were treated like outcasts in society. They were looked down upon and were considered abnormal (in a derogatory sense). I’m absolutely against that. Sure, their condition is an abnormality. A baby is supposed to be born with 10 fingers and 10 toes but it is simply wrong to outcast a baby born with 9 fingers and 23 toes. The analogy might not be completely accurate but I hope you get the idea.

According to research from the nurture perspective, some people turn gay due to unfortunate childhood experiences which include sexual abuse. I am quite open to such ideas but not as open as I am to arguments from the nature perspective. Sure, getting sexually harassed during childhood is a very nasty experience but it doesn’t mean it’s an excuse to turn gay. Not all men who get locked up in jail for many years turn gay. Only some do.

There are some cases however whereby nurture “arguments” will do nothing to change my mind. Example? I know a guy who turned gay about a year and a half ago. The reason? He got dumped for the third time in a row by a girl he was deeply and madly in love with. What a pathetic reason, absolutely pathetic. Now that’s what I’ll refer to as abnormal in a derogatory sense.

Some Essential Background

Amongst my close friends, making fun or being hateful towards other people’s religions is something unacceptable (Scientology is an exception). Racism is also something generally unacceptable although a minority of close friends could be classified as mild racists and a few others (2 actually) as unfortunately super racists (you know, the kind who believe that a good Jew, or at least a “media shaped” good Jew is a dead Jew). However there’s one thing that’s generally quite “acceptable” and that’s making fun of gay people and using terms like “faggots” to describe them. Yup, you read that right.

All of us haven’t really had any “pleasant” encounters with gay people or transsexuals. In fact the only gay/transsexual people we bumped into, or that bumped into us, have always been the really loud obnoxious annoying type, that love to make freaky comments such as pointing at me or one of my friends and shouting in their “feminine wannabe” voices “oh my God, you’re so cute”. My immediate reaction would always be “yuck! Damn you, stop harassing us, you freaky abnormal weirdoes”. What’s worse is when the transsexuals try to approach. Good thing they back off. Oh thank the Lord they always do, otherwise I swear I’ll end up beating one of them in these coming days and I might actually break his (her?) neck. Okay maybe I won’t but you get the idea.

As you can imagine, we developed a wonderful hostility towards gay and transsexual people. Or to be more accurate, most of us didn’t develop any hostility at all, we simply enhanced it further (way further), given the fact that we came from cultural backgrounds which regard homosexuality as something absolutely unacceptable and forbidden.

The Incident

Last week’s Sunday night was pretty unique for one main reason. (No, I didn’t get drunk and find myself in the morning in bed with a gay dude. Oh no, thanks but no thanks. Drima is straight, very straight. In fact he’s as straight as an arrow. He also doesn’t drink). Here’s what happened. Last week’s Sunday night K, a new friend of mine brought me along to his friend’s party where I ended up having an interesting conversation with 2 gay dudes and one transsexual. All three are fashion designers.

I was extremely uncomfortable in the beginning and felt like cursing my friend but I convinced myself to remain respectful since I was a guest. At first, I conversed with everyone except the transsexual. After a while, the party got going when the host started blasting some really good old school hip hop music. Eventually we all conversed, laughed and joked around until I completely forgot the fact that 2 of the guys were gay and one was a transsexual. It didn’t bother me much anymore. Unlike previous cases, they didn’t try to hit on me and they didn’t make any flirtatious moves which was obviously a very good thing. As a result, I learned three new fashion words. Cetour, retro and bohemian (did I spell them right?). Moreover I started thinking and I gained a new perspective.

You’ve got 2 persons:

a) A guy who’s straight but steals money from friends, doesn’t give to charity and is racist.

And

b) A guy who’s gay, is loyal to his friends, gives to a lot to charity and vehemently opposes racism.

As much as you may disagree with it, you can’t simply discredit (b) as immoral simply based on his homosexuality.

Having spent some of my childhood in conservative Qatar, I never one day thought I would have atheist friends. Some of the coolest and nicest people I’ve gotten to know since then are atheists. I remain in contact with most of them.

Having been exposed to only crazy annoying gays and transsexuals, I never thought that one day I’d actually have a decent and enjoyable conversation with any of them.

PS: Which public toilets do transsexuals use? I’ve always wondered. Women’s or men’s? Oh ya and strangely I have 2 friends who are bisexual. They’re both girls!

This is a letter that I have written to the Save Darfur Coalition. I’m sharing it here on this blog with everyone. If you have something you would like to add, then please do so in the comments section.

—————————————————-

To whom it may highly concern:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I’m writing you this letter to express to you my thoughts and feelings regarding your campaign.

Your coalition, the Save Darfur coalition, is the most powerful organization in the United States at the moment calling for an end to the horrific crisis and ethnic cleansing currently occuring in the western region of my country. You have been extremely active in bringing Darfur to the attention of the American masses and indirectly to the world, through the media. Moreover you have organized successful donation drives for the Darfur cause. For that, I sincerely thank you.

I am however gravely concerned. I am concerned by your calls for immediate UN intervention in Darfur. I am concerned by the fact that you don’t realize what the major consequences of such an intervention will be.

Many people (both within Sudan and outside) oppose UN troops coming into Darfur. Many unfortunately view UN troops as colonizing forces that are part of a conspiracy. They include Sudanese Islamist organizations, Darfurian tribal leaders, a minority of the Darfurians themselves, some Chadian rebels, al-Qaeda and of course the Sudanese Armed Forces headed by Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir. All of them have vowed to wage war and jihad against any UN troops that set foot on Darfur.

UN troops setting foot in Darfur without the consent of Sudan’s government will sadly cause the conflict to worsen. The war will only get bigger and more people will suffer. I’m sure that won’t make the situation more “humanitarian” than it already is. Still though, let’s assume that UN troops did in fact intervene in Darfur. Are you really confident they’ll stick around and actually help given the UN’s “wonderful” record in places like Rwanda? What about the story on UN soldiers molesting Sudanese children which surfaced quite recently?

Unlike many others, I believe that your heart is in the right place, but I don’t agree with the strategy that you’re pursuing. I believe we should focus our efforts primarily at pressuring both the Sudanese government and the rebels to sit down for serious peace talks. Moreover we should also encourage the increasingly divided rebel factions to reconcile and agree on common goals. The Darfur crisis needs a political solution. Moreover, long term peace will only be achieved by addressing the root causes of this conflict, the main one being water shortage.

Western pressure led by the United States played a major role in ending the long and bloody South-North conflict. Personally, I’m very grateful for it. If it wasn’t for it I believe the war would still be continuing until this day. The UN is sadly unreliable and I frankly don’t understand why your coalition is spending valuable time and resources trying to pressure them. The Save Darfur Coalition could defintely benefit from a revision of the current strategy.

I’m kindly asking you to take this humble letter of mine into high consideration.

Awaiting your reply,
Sincerely,

Drima

I stole the cartoon below from a Sudanese blog I recently discovered.

More later.

Aljazeera. Ask a typical Arab guy what he thinks of it and he’ll tell you, he loves it. Ask a typical American right winger and he’ll tell you, he hates it. Two different people judging an entity from their own perspective results in different views. No problem. It seems natural. Strangely when it comes to the UN, something different happens. Ask the typical Arab guy and he’ll tell you the UN is corrupt, controlled by Jews and the evil USA. Ask the American right winger dude and he’ll tell you the UN is a corrupt organization that’s an annoying headache for the great USA. A lot of people don’t seem to like the UN and for good reasons. Hell, I myself don’t like the UN but I must admit and say that something is better than nothing. I appreciate and support all the humanitarian work done by the them and all the other educational/health efforts but I am no fan whatsoever of the joke called the Human Rights Council. It stinks. It stinks really bad. Reform and restructuring is required.